author
Shelby M. (Shelby Moore) Cullom
1829–1914
A major figure in Illinois politics for decades, this lawyer-turned-statesman rose from the state legislature to the governor’s office and then to one of the longest Senate careers of his era. He is often remembered for his role in the push for federal railroad regulation during America’s Gilded Age.
1 Audiobook
Fifty Years of Public Service Personal Recollections of Shelby M. Cullom, Senior United States Senator from Illinois
by Shelby M. (Shelby Moore) Cullom
About the author
Born in Wayne County, Kentucky, in 1829 and raised in Illinois from infancy, Shelby Moore Cullom studied law and built his career in Springfield. He entered public life early, serving in the Illinois legislature before moving on to national office.
Cullom served in the U.S. House of Representatives, became governor of Illinois, and then spent more than 30 years in the U.S. Senate. His long career made him one of the best-known Republican leaders from Illinois in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
He is especially associated with the era’s debate over railroads and federal oversight, and his name is linked with the Interstate Commerce Act through the Senate committee work he led. Cullom died in Washington, D.C., in 1914, leaving behind a public career that stretched from the years before the Civil War into the Progressive Era.